Manufacture of soap



PatentedApr. 7, 1925.

NITE-b. STATES PATENT OFFICE. A

VICTOR HUGO GOTTSCHALK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, .ASSIGNO-R TO THE AMERICAN COTTON OIL COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 01 NEW JERSEY.

MAN UFACTURE OF SOAP.

No Drawing able others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved method of making a milled or semi-milled soap in a simple and advantageous manner.

According to the present invention, the soap, While still in a-hot molten state, is subjected to a combined atomizing and drying operation, with the resulting production of granulated or shredded soap of ap- 0 propriate moisture content, and the resulting granulated or shredded soap is subjected to a plodding or modified plodding operation, or to a milling and subsequent lated or shredded soap into the form of a milled or semi-milled soap. -The soap is then pressed and formed into cakes in much the usual Way. y

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the gral'iulated or shredded soap used is an aerated floating granulated or shredded soap; and thisaerated granulated or shredded soap is subjected to a modified plodding operation which leaves suliicient air in the soap so that it is a. floating soap.

n I In the production of nnlled soap, as heretofore commonly practiced, the hot molten soap is poured into frames or molds and is permitted to cool and solidify,an operation which may require several days for its completion. The soap is then cut into slabs and then into narrow bars, and these bars are subjected to a drying operation tov reduce the moisture content to the proper degree. The dried bars are then subjected to a chipping operation, the chips 'further dried, then mixed with perfume, coloring matter, or other ingredients in a mixer, the mixture passed between rolls to convertthe chips and admixtures -to a homogeneous mass, and the resulting ribbons of soap passed to the plodding machine where compacting takes place and where the soap is converted intoa bar which is then cut into odding operation, to convert the granu- Application filed August 28, 1920. Serial No. 406,192.

sections and formed into cakes of the required dimensions by pressing. 1

According to the present invention, the conversion of the hot molten soap into the form of a milled or semi-milled soap, is very greatly shortened and simplified, with resulting economy in the time, space and apparatus required for the conversion. slow cooling of the soap in frames, and the subsequent slahbing and cutting ofthe soap into bars, and of chipping the bars into chips, are avoided, and the hot moltensoap is directly converted, by a combined atomizing and drying operation, into a granulated or shredded soap of appropriate degree of dryness, and this granulated and shredded The soap is charged directly into the plodder, or a directly passed to the rolls, eitherwith or without further admixture of ingredients therewith.

The hot molten soap employed in .the

process of the, present invention may be sodium carbonates, etc. The hot molten soap may be soap that has been subjected to the usual crutchingoperations for the iucorporation of the usual ingredients, and the soap may likewise be subjected to a greater or less extent to aeration during the crutching operation. It is a characteristic advantage of the'im'ention, however, that this crutching operation can be eliminated in many cases and the hot molten soap taken directly from the kettle, without crutching, and subjeoted to the common disintegration and drying operations, for the production of the granulated .or shredded soap which is used in the subsequent millingand plodding or plodding operations. .For the production of a floating soap, the granulated or shredded soap is an aerated and floating powder and the plodding operation is so modified that the proper amount of air is 'lil ding operations of the present invention may be roduced in any suitable apparatus in whic the molten soap is sprayed or atomized into a drying chamber and there dried to a suflicient degree, for example, by paming the atomized soap downwardly through a large vertical chamber which is supplied with a current of air, and with the temperature and condition of the air so regulated, if necessary, as by suitable heating means, to promote the drying operation. The soap may thus be supplied to an atomizing nozzle arranged in the top of such a chamber, and the atomizing and drying operations so regulated that the soap is collected at the bottom of the chamber in a granulated or shredded form and of ap' propriate moisture content for subsequent treatment.

The hot molten soap, from which the granulated or shredded soap is produced, may be compounded, if desired, with suitable admixtures, such as fillels, colloidal clay, etc, or taken directly from the soap kettle without admixture and subjected to the atomizing and disintegration operations. The soap may be given a preliminary aeration, by crutching or otherwise, or it may be aerated during the atomizing operation, so that an aerated floating soap powder is produced.

The soap powder may thus be produced, for example, according to the process set forth in a patent of John C. Ingram,

1,472,473, granted Oct. 30, 1923. In carrying out the atomizing and aerating operations, the granulated and shredded soap is dried to such an extent that the amount of moisture retained by the soap particles will be that which is appropriate for the plodding and milling operations. For the production of a semi-milled floatmg soap, the finely divided granulated or shredded and aerated soap, either with or without further admixtures of other ingredients, such as perfume, etc., is passed through a plodding machine, or modified plodding machine, which is adapted to amalgamate and homogenize the dried particles without displacing all of the enclosed air. I use the term semi-milled as referring to such a soap, i. e., a soap which still retains suflicient air so that it will float, but in which the particles have been amalgamated and homogenized by a plodding or similar operation. For the production of such a semi-milled floating soap, the plod-- din machine should be so constructed or modified thatthe desired amalgamation and homogenizing will take place without undue pressure, so that the desired amount of air will be retained. The soap from the modi fied plodding machine is then pressed into cakes and is ready for wrapping and packaging.

here it is desired to produce a milled soap which does not float, the granulated or shredded soap need not be aerated, although an aerated soap powder can nevertheless be used. The dried granulated or shredded soap, may be mixed with perfume or other ingredients, and can then be transferred directly to the plodder, or it can be subjected to a milling operation, between rolls, to obtain an increased degree of homogeneity, particularly where other ingredients, such as perfume, etc., are compounded with the soap powder, that is, the milling and plodding operations may be similar to those commonly employed, with the' atomized and dried granulated or shredded soap used instead of the customary dried chips. The soap produced in this way is more comparable with the common milled soaps, whereas the semi-milled floating soap is distinguished by the regulated plodding operation and by the retention of sufiicient air to give the desired floating properties.-

From the preceding description it. will be seen that the improved process of the present invention is one of great simplicity, involving the disintegration and drying of the settled soa from the soap kettles, and the passage 0 the resulting driwi granulated or shredded soap directly through a modified plodding machine. or through the milling andplodding machines, and finally pressingthe soap into cakes, with very little intervening mechanism. The improved process of the present invention eliminates labor and other costs involved in connection with the crutching, framing, drying and reworking of soap scrap, while very important economies are involved both in time required for the conversion of settled soap into milled or semi-milled soap, and in the space and apparatus required for such conversion.

In the production of a semi-milled floatin soap, it is advantageous to use the granulated or shredded soap while fresh, or before it has been permitted to stand for such a long period that it will no longer readily amalgamate. Freshly produced granulated or shredded soap, produced in the manner described, can be easily amalamated and squeezed into a coherent mass, nt the tparticles lose their coherin properties if ey are permitted to stan exposed to the atmosphere for prolonged periods of time. The granulated or shredded soap may thus contain around 20 to 24% or more of moisture and still be capable of bein squeezed into a coherent mass. The drigranulated or shredded soap even with its lgh moisture content nevertheless has an outer layer which, owing to increased superficial drying, makes the particles substant ally non-sticking, until pressed together,

but the particles can nevertheless be formed into a coherent mass by pressure.

- even after standing for considerable time,

and after further air drying, provided it has a suitable moisture content to permit it to be treated by the plodding, or milling and plodding, operations, for the production of the desired product, i. e., a. milled soap, or soap having properties similar to those of a milled soap.

I claim: I I

1'. The method of producing a milled or semi-milled soap, which comprises subjecting hot molten soap to an atomizing and drying operation, subjecting the resulting dried soap particles to a plodding operation for amalgamating the soap particles into a coherent mass and controlling such operation to retain a predetermined content of air whereby to produce a floating soap.

2. Th' method of roducing a semi-milled floating soap, whic comprises subjecting hot molten soapto an atomizing or spraying operation with compressed air, and thereby effecting disintegration and aeration of the soap, passing the resulting disintegrated and aerated soap through a, drying gas and thereby drying the same, sub= jectin the resultant dried and aerated granu ated or shredded" soap to a plodding operation under control to eliminate a portion of the air and to convert the particles into a coherent mass, and regulating the atomizing, aerating and plodding operations, so that the resulting soap will be a floati rli fi soap.

3 e method of roducing a semi-milled floating soap, whic comprises subjecting the freshly produced, disintegrated, aerated and spray dried .soap to a milling or plodding operation controlled to eliminate a definite amount of air and to retain a predetermined content, whereby to convert the disintegrated soap into a coherent homogeneous mass having a predetermined content of air.

4. The method of producing semi-milled floating soap, which comprises subjecting freshly produced disintegrated, aerated and spray dried granulated or shredded soap to a suitable milling and plodding operation to convert the particles into a coherent and homogeneous product, and controlling such operation to retain suflicient air to cause the product to float.

5. The method of reducing a semi-milled floating soap, which comprises subjectin the freshly produced disintegrated an spray, dried soap to a milling or plodding operation controlled to eliminate a definite amount .of air and to retain a. predetermined content, whereby to convert the disintegrated soap into a coherent, homogeneous mass having a predetermined content of air. I

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

VICTOR HUGO GQTTSCHALK. 

